What You Make of It: Lunch Sack Book with Susan Duane

Susan is back with another great handmade gift idea. Just in time for Mother's Day even Father's Day.

Hello! I've got a fun, easy and perfect project for those hard to buy for people. I don't know about you but I never know what to get my husband. I've been making these little scrapbooks for him and he always tells me they are the best gifts.

You'll need:
 
 ♥ paper lunch bags or chipboard book
♥ scrapbooking papers
♥ adhesive
♥ pictures
♥ inks
♥ embellishments

 

This can be as elaborate or as simple as you like. I like to start by distressing the edges of the bags with distress ink. I like the aged look but if it's not your style you can skip this step. 

Fold each bag in half and but them together like book pages, staggering the tops and bottoms of the bags like shown. How you bind the pages is up to you. I sewed right down the middle of all the pages on my sewing machine. You can punch holes & tie ribbon, you can wrap the entire book with ribbon and tie closed, you could use metal rings from the office supply store, I even made one with a twig and some twine to look like a toggle closure.

 

Another tip those little scrapbook paper pads in the 6 x 6 size are perfect for these, no cutting necessary. If you have lots of other papers on hand that's great you'll just need to cut them down. Cover each page in paper with your adhesive and embellish like you would any scrapbook page, add buttons, paper clips, tags anything you wish. On some pages I make pockets with a second sheet of paper or you can tuck notes or tags into the openings in the paper bags themselves. For Christmas I had each child write a little note to their Dad and included that in one of the pockets.

If you want something with more substance you can find plain chipboard books in any craft store, the one pictured on the far right is chipboard using the same idea as the paper bags books.

 

 
If you gather all your photos and supplies you can easily put one of these together in about an hour! 

Happy Crafting!

Susan Duane is a wife and mother of three young children. She is a home cook, aspiring photographer and lover of old things. She spends her days caring for her family, creating for Paperhill and in her free time chronicles her long list of interests on her blog Hometown Girl.